Thursday, October 19, 2017

THE DREAMImagine if you could crank out 500 words every single day. Let's say you were working on parenting magazine articles. You could easily get one article done every week (1,000 words is a long one) with time to edit, research, then submit. Every. Single. Week. That's 52 articles a year working for you as passive-ish (you still have to send invoices)/residual income in the form of REPRINTS.

This could also translate into several blog posts per week (one day to get those 500 words out and one day to edit/research/create graphics).

This could also mean 50 days to 25,000 words of a book. Even if you then take another 50 days to work on a cover, get the book proofread, make sure it is all coherent, etc., you have a book in 100 days.

Let's say you're a blogger AND a magazine writer AND a book author. In just ONE YEAR, how many books, blog posts and articles could you knock out if you could just make sure to sit down and get 500 words written every day?

THE PROBLEMTime. Time is always the problem. And interruptions. And life in general, intruding with its obligations like laundry and dishes and cooking and hygiene and weddings and funerals and parties and errands and clogged toilets and car problems. Oh, and sometimes also those cute children running around and also sometimes that pesky little thing called a full-time job that pays the bills while we chase our writing dreams. And yes, I do realize that even when my kids are grown and gone from the house, I will still have lots going on pertaining to them.THE SOLUTIONHave you tried dictation using your smartphone? Not some fancy machine and not even some fancy app. I'm just talking about maybe using the Notes app on your iPhone that comes pre-installed. I am a huge fan of walking outside for my FitBit steps while writing at the same time by dictating my articles and books. I feel super amazing on those evenings when my 8-year-old has soccer practice and I can walk the track ... he's happy and I'm getting exercise while getting work done.

I also dictate while driving, which I know might be controversial, but before I got a phone I was writing all my notes long-hand in my lap on a notebook. Tell me which is more dangerous! I don't actually look at the screen while I'm dictating, which often makes for some funny untangling of words later on, but I can just talk and talk stream of consciousness style, and end up with something I can work with later.

When the file is done or when I get home, I just send the note to my email box. Then I grab it and put it in the correct project file on my laptop (you might be more progressive and use Google Docs).

You could dictate while nursing your baby, while making dinner, while folding laundry or waiting for your kid to get out of a drama rehearsal.

*This post was 511 words and I cranked it out super fast over our Homeschool Lunch Break, then edited later.

I would LOVE to hear how this works out for you or if you already do it!

Have files of article reprints that you own but have no clue where to start reselling them? Have ideas for some fantastic new pieces but no idea who might want them? Check out my thick 441-page print book of tips, tricks, and insider information, as well as 384 paying parenting and family markets! You can order"How to Get Published (and Paid!) Writing About Your Kids" on Amazon here.

Sign up for an email subscription to The Published Parent and get two amazing freebies: 10 Parenting Markets That Pay $100+ and 10 Markets That Pay Writers to Write About Writing! And join my Facebook group called Parenting Magazine Writers ... it's FREE and full of tips and tricks and markets and like-minded writer friends!

So I've been trolling some blogs and want to give some tips. These are some recent changes I've made on a few of my own blogs that seem to have made a difference:

Head to LinkWithin and sign up. This is how I get those boxes below each post that suggest other pages readers might want to view. This is a great way to get people to explore your blog and other posts they might like. More page views = more ad money sometimes.

When you're ready, apply at BlogHer to get some ads, which don't pay by clicks, but by page views.

Have tabs along the top of your blog. If you can't figure out how to do this, just ask me and I'll post the html code I use for Blogger in a special blog post for everyone.

Go to AddThis and sign up. I have seen my posts tweeted and shared a ton since I did this and put it at the top of my blogs. Also, it makes it easy for YOU to quickly tweet any post from the past you might want to direct readers to again. AddThis sends you a weekly update on your viral lift and shows how just one share can lead to so many clicks.

Make sure you have a Twitter account, and link it everywhere! To gain followers, FOLLOW!

Have a Facebook page dedicated to your site, be it a blog or a business or whatever. Sign up for Networked Blogs.

I was sending out my entire blog posts to email subscribers but have changed that so now they get a few lines only. I am a bloggy tease, it is true, but I get more traffic because my email subs now have to come to the blog to see the post ... and are more likely to comment and stick around a while.

Oh, and I like to put the popular posts down the side, as well. I like to personally see what people are checking out so I can give them more of the same.

Get a Google+ account. When I make updates to posts I have the option of sending the post out to all my Google+ people, which are often different from my other social media contacts.

Make sure you are on LinkedIn. Connect accounts so your Twitter posts post on your LinkedIn wall, etc.

If you are a writer, make sure your site is showing up in your byline on any articles you write.

Sign up at Feedburner. I did this a long time ago, but didn't have it set up correctly and was missing out on tons of traffic somehow (don't ask me how it works, just that you can get a widget to see how many people are checking out your site using a feed). Make sure you check out the "Optimize" and "Publicize" tabs and activate all you can!

Grab yourself a Facebook Like button for your site so people can Like from afar. You can do that here.

Don't try to be someone you are not. Be yourself, and that may take you a little time to put into practice. It took me almost FOUR YEARS to start seeing decent traffic.

Hit some blog hops, and make sure you are also checking out other blogs. You can't just sit back and wait for everyone to come to you but never visit another person!

Get a Hootsuite account (free version) and schedule some love for your posts so they are not rotting. You know you have some great content that is old and needs some new social media life. And maybe a new graphic as well?

Get something like CommentLuv so comments link back to a person's email and website. It's also cool to be able to reply to a specific comment instead of across-the-board like you currently have to do on Facebook.

Hop on Quora.com and start answering questions people have ... answer in part and then send them to a blog post you have written on the topic :)

Have files of article reprints that you own but have no clue where to start reselling them? Have ideas for some fantastic new pieces but no idea who might want them? Check out my thick 441-page print book of tips, tricks, and insider information, as well as 384 paying parenting and family markets! You can order"How to Get Published (and Paid!) Writing About Your Kids" on Amazon here.

Sign up for an email subscription to The Published Parent and get two amazing freebies: 10 Parenting Markets That Pay $100+ and 10 Markets That Pay Writers to Write About Writing! And join my Facebook group called Parenting Magazine Writers ... it's FREE and full of tips and tricks and markets and like-minded writer friends!